Chapter Fifteen

Meredith was stunned to silence. She felt for Katrin’s hand and grasped it. It was very cold. Then she looked up at the boy with a mixture of disbelief and bewilderment in her expression.

“You do not believe that she will recover?” asked the boy, searching Meredith’s face.

“It’s not that...” said Meredith, slowly, quietly. “It’s just that... you... spoke! In our language, I mean!”

“Yes, I can speak the language of white men,” said the boy, smiling. “I am the only one amongst the Chinukee who can.”

“Chinukee? That’s the name of your...”

“It is the name of our tribe,” said the boy, with a proud glint in his dark eyes.

“My sister... what happened to her? What’s that mark on her neck?” asked Meredith, quickly.

“It is the mark of the Hakutah arrow. She had been poisoned, but the poison is not deadly. The medicine which we have given her will reverse the effects of the poison in her body.”

“She’s been... poisoned?” Meredith’s voice was weak and shaky.

“Yes, but she will not die. The poison only causes a man or a woman to fall into a deep sleep. Usually after several weeks they will regain consciousness. But if they are given the juice of the yellow-berry, they will waken sooner.”

“The medicine you gave her...”

“The juice of the yellow-berry,” said the boy, with a smile.

Meredith tightly squeezed her sister’s hand and looked up at the boy with eyes which were brimming with tears of gratitude.

“Thank you,” she said, quietly. “Thank you for everything.”

The boy smiled again. He stood to his feet, took one last glance at Katrin and made as though to leave. But just as he was reaching out for the door handle, Meredith remembered.

“Wait!” she cried.

The boy turned back round; so did the girl.

“The baby... where is she? Is she alright?” Meredith’s voice was wrought with worry.

At first the boy didn’t answer. He slowly put his arm around the shoulders of the young girl who stood timidly by his side. Whispering something into her ear, he led her nearer to where Meredith was kneeling.

“This is my sister,” said the boy. “In the language of white men, her name is Willow. My name is White Bear, and you are Meredith, and your sister is Katrin.”
Meredith smiled.

“You may be surprised to learn that my sister is in fact the mother of the young child you speak of. Willow wishes me to tell you how grateful she is that her child has been safely returned to her.”

“She’s the baby’s mother?” asked Meredith, her eyes widening. “Then it wasn’t the mother that we found... dead...?”

“The woman you speak of was the child’s aunt, our half-sister. She and my sister’s child were taken hostage from our camp more than four moons ago. It is likely that she tried to escape with the child, but the Inukhuh kill any who attempt to get away.”

“Another tribe?” Meredith looked astonished. “I didn’t know there were so many Indians around her!”

“It is our duty to see that we are never discovered by any white man,” said White Bear, a peculiar expression passing over his dark face. “We do not wish to be tamed and made civilised like our ancestors. If we are seen by any white man, they must be killed or taken hostage.”

Meredith felt a pang of fear and her heart-beat quickened with the boy’s words. So this was their plight. They would either remain among these hard-hearted Chinukee Indians indefinitely, or be killed. Their future certainly wasn’t looking very bright.

“So why has nobody killed us yet?” asked Meredith, hopelessly. “Why did you even bother saving me from that river? And Katrin! It doesn’t make sense...”

“You and your sister are under nahkumetekah; you are being tried for the crime of kidnapping the child, and if you are found guilty, then you will be killed. But if you are found not guilty, you will have the chance to live among us as one of our own.”

“But that’s ridiculous!” cried Meredith, her cheeks burning. “We didn’t kidnap the baby, you know we didn’t! You said it yourself- it was those other Indians.”

“I know that and my sister knows, but our word is of very little value to the men who must make the final decision. You see, my mother was a white woman, and my tribe believe that I am soft towards you and your sister because you are white women also, and that I am speaking falsely in order to protect you. They will not listen to my sister, either, because she is a woman. They do not listen to women.”

“Then... there’s no hope.” Meredith sank to the ground and covered her face with her hands. She felt like her world was caving in all around her. And the noise of it was deafening. So deafening that she didn’t even hear White Bear and Willow leave the room.